Last month saw our annual pilgrimage to the Lake District when we spent a few days at a super hotel in Grasmere. I really enjoy sketching and collecting painting subjects in this part of the world, and we weren’t disappointed with the weather – we had lots of it! It was quite an experience walking along the top of Steel Fell looking towards the Lion and the Lamb and watching Purdey do her kite impression on the end of her extra long extender lead! Despite the high winds and hail like buckshot, the effects of the weather at this height was breathtaking, a boiling firmament with shafts of sunlight (angels staircases as Louise calls them) highlighting areas of snow covered hillside-lots of good subjects for future paintings. The other pleasure was to end the day at Baldry`s teashop enjoying their wonderful homemade cakes and hot coffee. Many a visitor to Grasmere misses out on this delight as they are too quick to judge the décor and not the content, often retiring to the stainless steel Starbucks lookalike next to the Heaton-Cooper gallery.